What may be new to most Americans is nothing out of the ordinary for our readers. As the economic, financial and political situation around us becomes more dire by the day, people are realizing that if it hits the fan there will be no safety net to assist them. The government is already overwhelmed with nearly 50 million people on nutritional assistance and an estimated 100 million Americans living in or right on the edge of poverty. In a true emergency, be it economic in nature or an unforeseen outlier, there will simply be no way local or federal officials can respond to the needs of everyone in need, something FEMA has repeatedly warned about.

Among the many possible emergency and disaster scenarios, the one that stands out as the most likely is an economic collapse driven by vast amounts of government debt that will never be repaid and a US dollar that is likely on its last leg as the world’s reserve currency . The consequences, if and when we reach the tipping point, will be unlike anything Americans have experienced in recent history. Forecasts of the fall-out from these events include runs on the banks, gas shortages, disruptions to our food supply and commerce systems, and the potential for riots and bloodshed in the streets. By many accounts a hyperinflationary depression cannot be avoided.

According to a recent report from CBS, Americans sense something isn’t normal, and like the government who has been actively taking steps to prepare for an economic breakdown and civil unrest, they are taking their future into their own hands by stocking up on essential supplies like food, self defense weapons and ammunition, and emergency evacuation kits:

A chain of three stores that sells survival food and gear reports a jump in sales to people who are getting prepared for the “possible collapse” of society.

“We had to order fifty cases of the meals ready to eat to keep up with the demand in the past three months,” said manager Steve Dorsey at Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters Inc. in Webster Groves. “That’s not normal.  Usually we sell 20 to 30 cases in a whole year.”

Dorsey says business has been brisk since the spring uprisings in the middle east, as customers share concerns about political uprisings, the world economy and the future of the United States.

…

Dorsey says some customers talk of stocking up on freeze-dried meals for the home, while others confide they are stashing supplies at a remote location away from the city where they would go in an emergency.

“There are people that have property and they’ve set up different things they’re building to protect themselves like towers they can stand up and watch,” Dorsey said, “There’s a lot of people I’m dealing with who buy all kinds of stuff because they have like twenty or thirty people going in on this together and they’re all going to go to this one spot if something like this happens.”

Source: CBS

Though the number of Americans preparing for disaster is probably one in a hundred or less, one thing is for sure. Those who fail to prepare now will be wondering how they could have missed the signs once it all goes down – but by then it will be too late.

When it comes to preparedness and planning, it’s better to be a year early than to be a day late.